Yi-Chen Ethan Yang, Ph.D., GISP
Research Assistant Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Massachusetts – Amherst (Umass)
ELabII - Rm. 210
130 Natural Resources Rd
Amherst, MA 01003
Phone (O): +1-413-577-3232
(M): +1-217-898-8413
E-mail: yceyang@umass.edu
EDUCATION
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Urbana, IL, USA
 Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE), May 2010
National Taiwan University (NTU), Taipei, Taiwan
M.S. in Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering (BSE), June 2004
 B.S. in Geography (graduated with College of Science Dean Award), June 2002
Minor: Earth Systems Science Program
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SELECTED AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS
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Flex Grants Award for Teaching/Faculty Development, Umass, April, 2014
Scholarship from ESRI-GIS Development Center (EDC), April 2010
Conference Fellowship of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Chicago, July 2009
Certificate in Foundations of Teaching, UIUC, April 2009
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Conference Fellowship of TECO in Chicago, December 2007
Conference Fellowship of TECO in Chicago, December 2006
Chester P. Siess Award, CEE, UIUC, April 2006
College of Science Dean’s Award, NTU, June 2002
Presidential Award, NTU, April 2000
RESEARCH INTERESTS
 Coupled Natural-Human System – agent-based modeling, decentralized optimization
 Water-Energy-Food Nexus – hydropower-irrigation tradeoff, integrated system modeling
 Ecological Hydrology – natural flow regime analysis, quantitative hydroecological indictors,
reservoir reoperation
 Climate Risk Assessment – climate change, land use/land cover change impact assessment
 Geographic Information Science – WebGIS-based decision support system
FUNDDED PROJECTS
 Co-project leader, 2014-2016, “A generic ABM framework for complex ecosystem service analyses
in WLE focal regions,” University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Funded by CGIAR-WLE, $1,055,137
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Y. C. Ethan Yang
 PI, 2014-2015, “Evaluation of Complex Water System (COWS) around the World – data collection,
model development and scenario analysis” University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Funded by The
World Bank, $149,999
 Independent Consultant, 2014-2015, “Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of
Diamer-Basha Dam Project,” Independent Consultant, Funded by Research Triangle Institute (RTI),
$27,490
 PI, 2014-2015, “Modeling the Climate risk and Infrastructure development assessment for the
Ayeyarwady Basin,” University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Funded by The World Bank, $30,000
 Independent Consultant, 2014, “Basin-wide groundwater and salinity analysis for hydro-economic
modeling in the Indus Basin of Pakistan,” Funded by IFPRI, $35,000
 PI, 2013-2015, “Hydro-Economic Modeling for Brahmaputra and Kabul River,” University of
Massachusetts – Amherst, Funded by The World Bank, $208,667
 Co-PI, 2013-2014, “Developing tools for climate risk assessment and adaptation in water resources
systems,” University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Funded by U.S. Geological Survey, $100,000
 Co-PI, 2012-2013, “Bringing people, data, and models together – addressing impacts of climate
change on stream temperature,” University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Funded by Northeast
Climate Science Center, U.S. Department of Interior, $149,859
 Co-PI, 2012-2013, “Using an upgraded Indus River Basin Model Revised (IBMR) for
energy-water-food nexus assessment in the Indus River Basin under climate change impact,”
University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Funded by International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI), $70,000
 Co-PI, 2012-2013, “Development of a GAMS Model for Exploration of Various Water Resources
Development Scenarios in the Amu Darya Basin,” University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Funded
by The World Bank, $89,959
PUBLICATIONS
Peer-reviewed Journals
1. Wi, S, Yang, Y. C. E., Steinschneider, S., Khalil, A. F. and Brown, C. M. 2015. Calibration approaches
for distributed hydrologic models using high performance computing: Implication for streamflow
projections under climate change. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 19, 857–876.
2. Yang, Y. C. E., Ray P. A., Brown, C. M., Khalil, A. F. and Yu, W. H. 2015. Estimation of flood damage
functions for river basin planning – A case study in Bangladesh. Natural Hazards, 75: 2773-2791.
3. Yang, Y. C. E., Brown, C. M., Yu, W. H., Wescoat, J. L. Jr. and Ringler C., 2014. Water Governance and
Adaptation to Climate Change in the Indus River Basin. Journal of Hydrology, 519: 2527-2537.
4. Mulligan, K., Brown, C. M., Yang, Y. C. E. and Ahlfeld, D. 2014. Assessing Groundwater Policy with
Coupled Economic-Groundwater Hydrologic Modeling. Water Resources Research, 50(3),
2257-2275, doi:10.1002/2013WR013666.
5. Steinschneider, S., Yang, Y. C. E. and Brown, C. M. 2014. Combining regression and spatial proximity
for catchment model regionalization: a comparative study. Hydrological Sciences Journal,
DOI:10.1080/02626667.2014.899701.
6. Steinschneider, S., Yang, Y. C. E. and Brown, C. M. 2013. Panel Regression Techniques for Identifying
Anthropogenic Impacts on Hydrologic Response. Water Resources Research, 49(12), 7874–7886,
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doi:10.1002/2013WR013818.
7. Yang, Y. C. E., Brown, C. M., Yu, W. H. and Savitsky, A. 2013. An Introduction to IBMR – A
Hydro-Economic Model for the Climate Change Impact Assessment in the Indus River in Pakistan.
Water International, 38(5): 632-650.
8. Wan, J., Yang, Y. C. E., Lin, Y. F. F. and Wang, J. 2013. Groundwater Resource Planning to Preserve
Streamflow – Where Environmental Amenity Meets Economic Welfare Loss. Journal of Water
Resources Planning and Management-ASCE, 139(4):440-448.
9. Wan, J., Yang, Y. C. E., and Lin, Y. F. F. 2013. The Effect of Groundwater Allocation on Economic
Welfare Loss – A Rationing Policy Study at a County Scale under Water Scarcity Scenarios. Ground
Water, 51(4):603-612.
10. Yang, Y. C. E., Zhao, J. and Cai, X. 2012. A Decentralized Method for Water Allocation Management
in the Yellow River Basin. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management-ASCE, 138(4):
313-325.
11. Yang, Y. C. E. and Lin Y. F. F. 2011. A New GIScience Application for Visualized Natural Resources
Management and Decision Support. Transactions in GIS, 15(s1): 109-124.
12. Cai, X., Yang, Y. C. E., Ringler, C., Zhao, J. and You, L. 2011. Agricultural Water Productivity
Assessment for the Yellow River Basin. Agricultural Water Management, 98: 1297-1306.
13. Yang, Y. C. E. and Cai, X. 2011. Reservoir Reoperation for Fish Ecosystem Restoration Using Daily
Inflows – A Case Study of Lake Shelbyville. Journal of Water Resources Planning and
Management-ASCE, 136(6): 470-480.
14. Ringler, C., Cai, X., Wang, J., Ahmed, A., Xue, Y., Xu, Z., Yang, E., Zhao, J., Zhu, T., Cheng, L., Fu, Y., Fu,
X., Gu X. and You, L. 2010. Yellow River Basin: living with scarcity. Water International, 35(5): 681 701.
15. Yang, Y. C. E., Cai, X. and Stipanović, D. M. 2009. A Decentralized Optimization Algorithm for
Multi-Agent System Based Watershed Management. Water Resources Research. 45, W08430, doi:
10.1029/2008WR007634.
16. Tung, C. P., Lee, T. Y., Yang, Y. C. E. and Chen, Y. J. 2009. Application of Genetic Programming to
Project Climate Change Impacts on the Population of Formosan landlocked salmon. Environmental
Modelling & Software, 24: 1062-1072.
17. Yang, Y. C. E., Cai, X. and Herricks, E. E. 2008. Identification of Hydrologic Indicators Related to Fish
Diversity and Abundance – A Data Mining Approach for Fish Community Analysis. Water Resources
Research, 44, W04412, doi: 10.1029/2006WR005764.
18. Tung, C. P., Yang, Y. C. E., Lee, T. Y. and Li, M. H. 2007. Modification of a Stream Temperature Model
with Beer's Law and Application to GaoShan Creek in Taiwan. Ecological Modelling, 200: 217-224.
19. Tung, C. P., Lee, T. Y. and Yang, Y. C. 2006. Modeling Climate Change Impacts on Stream Temperature
of Formosan Landlocked Salmon Habitat. Hydrological Processes, 20: 1629-1649.
20. Tung, C. P. and Yang, Y. C. 2006. The Climate Change Impact Assessment of Formosan Landlocked
Salmon Suitable Habitat. Journal of Chinese Agricultural Engineering, 52(1): 1-12. (in Chinese with
English abstract)
21. Yang, Y. C., Hsu, M. L. and Lay, J. G. 2005. The Effect of DEM Resolution and Flow Direction
Algorithms on Contributing Area Calculation. Journal of Geographical Science, 39: 71-90. (in Chinese
with English abstract)
22. Huang, J. C. Hsu, M. L. and Yang, Y. C. 2002. Spatial Characteristics of Contributing Area Calculated
by Multiple Flow Direction and Single Flow Direction Methods. Journal of Chinese Soil and Water
Conservation, 33(1): 57-72.(in Chinese with English abstract)
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Y. C. Ethan Yang
under review
23. Ray, P. A., Yang, Y. C. E., Wi, S., Brown, C. M., Khalil, A. F. and Chatikavanij, V. 2015. Room for improvement:
Hydroclimatic challenges to poverty-reducing development of the Brahmaputra River. Environmental Science and
Policy
24. Yang, Y. C. E., Wi, S., Ray, P. A., Khalil, A. F. and Brown, C. M. 2015. The Future Nexus of the Brahmaputra Basin:
Climate, Water, Food and Energy trajectories. Water Resources Research
25. Yang, Y. C. E. and Ringler C. 2015. Modeling the agricultural water-energy-food nexus in the Indus River of Pakistan.
Climatic Change
Conferences
26. Wi, S., Khalil, A. F. and Yang, Y. C. E. 2014. Assessing the climate impact on snow-glacier melting
dominated basins in the Greater Himalaya region using a distributed glacio-hydrologic model, Eos
Trans. AGU, 95(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract GC13E-0694.
27. Yang, Y. C. E., Ray, P. A., Wi, S. and Brown, C. M. 2014. Climate change risk on water resources
management of Himalaya basins, World Environmental & Water Resources Congress, Portland, OR,
USA, June 2014.
28. Yang, Y. C. E., Brown, C. M., Mulligan, K. and Steinschneider, S. 2013. Quantifying the domestic
water demand projection related with climate projection, World Environmental & Water Resources
Congress, Cincinnati, OH, USA, May 2013.
29. Cheng, C., Yang, Y. C. E. and Brabec, E. 2012. Applying Green Infrastructure to Long-Term Flooding
Risk Assessment under Climate Change: A case in the Charles River Watershed, MA, USA. The
Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning 2012 53rd Annual Conference, Cincinnati, OH, USA,
November, 2012.
30. Yang, Y. C. E., Brown, C. M. and Yu, W. H. 2012. Climate Risks on Water and Agriculture in the Indus
Basin of Pakistan. Eos Trans. AGU, 93(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H31I-1250.
31. Yang, Y. C. E., Yu, W. H., Brown, C. M. and Savitsky, A. 2011. Sustainable Water Management in the
Major Basins of South Asia. Eos Trans. AGU, 92(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H14E-07.
32. Ahlfeld, D., Mulligan, K., Brown, C. M. and Yang, Y. C. E. 2011. Management Strategies for Transition
to Sustainable Agricultural Irrigation. Eos Trans. AGU, 92(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H11F-1126.
33. Yang, Y. C. E. and Lin, Y. F. F. 2010. Managing Water Resources Using WebGIS: Development and
Application of an ArcGIS Explorer Toolkit for McHenry County. Illinois Groundwater Association
2010 Fall Meeting, Hoffman Estates, IL, USA, September 2010.
34. Yang, Y. C. E. and Lin, Y. F. F. 2010. Applied Budyko curve analysis for county level water resources
management. Eos Trans. AGU, 91(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H51I-06.
35. Yang, Y. C. E., Zhao, J. S. and Cai, X. 2010. A Multi-Agent System Modeling Framework for Water
Allocation Management in the Yellow River Basin. World Environmental & Water Resources
Congress, Providence, RI, USA, May 2010.
36. Yang, Y. C. E. 2009. Incorporating ecosystem restoration target into daily reservoir water release
operation. 33rd IAHR Congress: Water Engineering for a Sustainable Environment, Vancouver, BC,
Canada, August 2009.
37. Yang, Y. C. E., Cai, X. and Stipanović, D. M. 2009. A Multi-Agent System Based Watershed
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Management with Decentralized Optimization Algorithm. World Environmental & Water Resources
Congress, Kansas City, KS, USA, May 2009.
38. Batra, N., Yang, Y. C. E., Choi, H. I., Kumar, P, Cai, X. and De Fraiture, C. 2008. Understanding
hydrological cycle dynamics due to changing land use and land cover: Congo Basin case study. IEEE
International Geoscience & Remote Sensing Symposium, Boston, MA, USA, July 2008.
39. Batra, N., Yang, Y. E., Choi, H. I., Islam, M. A., De Fraiture, C., Cai, X. and Kumar, P. 2007. Assessing
the Impact of Land Use and Land Cover Change on Global Water Resources. Eos Trans. AGU, 88(52),
Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract GC51B-06.
40. Yang, Y. C. E. and Cai, X. 2007. Modeling the spatial distribution of fish communities at the
watershed scale. World Environmental & Water Resources Congress, Tampa, FL, USA, May 2007.
41. Batra, N, Yang. E., Choi, H. I., Kumar, P. and Cai, X 2006. Development of the Global Hydrologic
Model with Advanced Characterization of Subsurface Transport Processes for Water Availability
Assessment. Eos Trans. AGU, 87(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H43A-0475.
42. Yang, Y. C. E. and Cai, X. 2006. Assessing the Human Water Use Impact in the River Basin Context.
World Environmental & Water Resources Congress, Omaha, NE, USA, May 2006.
43. Tsai, W. S., Dai, C. F., Yang, Y. C. and Tung, C. P. 2006. Using Genetic Programming to Modeling
Spatial Distribution of Corals and the Impacts of Climatic Changes: A Case Study from Taiwan.
International Coral Reef Symposium, Okinawa, Japan, July 2004.
44. Tung, C. P., Yang, Y. C. and Lee, T. Y. 2004. Simple Genetic Programming Software and Application to
Identify Environmental Response Function for Taiwan Salmon. International Conference of
Hydroinformatics, Singapore, Singapore, June 2004.
45. Tung, C. P. and Yang, Y. C. 2002. Simulating Storm-Overland Flow path by a Dynamic Distributed
Model. Conference of Agriculture Engineering, YuLin, Taiwan, December 2002. (in Chinese)
Book, Report & Thesis
46. Yang, Y. C. E. and Brown, C. M. 2014. Hydro-economic system analyses for climatic risk and water
infrastructure development in the Ayeyarwady Basin, World Bank, Washington D.C. USA.
47. Yang, Y. C. E., Wi, S. Brown, C. M. and Khalil, A. F. 2014. Strategic Assessment of Hydropower
Development Alternatives in the Kunar River Basin of Afghanistan and Pakistan: Water Balance and
Climate Change Analyses, World Bank, Washington D.C. USA.
48. Yang, Y. C. E. et al, 2013. Development of a GAMS Model for Exploration of Various Water Resources
Development Scenarios in the Amu Darya Basin, World Bank, Washington D.C. USA.
49. Yu, W. Yang, Y. C. E., Savitsky, A., Alford, D., Brown, C. Wescoat, J., Debowicz, D. and Robinson, S.
2013. The Indus Basin of Pakistan: The Impacts of Climate Risks on Water and Agriculture.
Washington, DC: World Bank. doi: 10.1596/978-0-8213-9874-6. License: Creative Commons
Attribution CC BY 3.0
50. Yang, Y. C. E. 2010. Modeling Watershed Management with an Ecological Objective - A Multi-Agent
System Based Approach, Ph. D. Dissertation, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
UIUC, Urbana, IL, USA.
51. Yang, Y. C. 2004. Modeling the Impacts of Climate Change on Water Temperature and Potential
Population of Formosan Landlocked Salmon’s Reintroduction Habitat, The Graduated Thesis of
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Y. C. Ethan Yang
Graduate Institute of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, NTU, Taiwan.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, AFFILIATIONS & SERVICES
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Membership
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), since 2007
Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI), since 2007
American Geophysical Union (AGU), since January 2009
AGU - Water and Society Technical Committee, since October 2014
Paper reviewer
Advance in Water Resources
British Journal of Environmental and Climate Change
Ecological Modelling
Environmental Modelling and Software
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
Hydrological Sciences Journal
International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Journal of Hydroinformatics
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering – ASCE
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management – ASCE
Neural Computing and Applications
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Science of the Total Environment
Water International
Water Resources Research
RECENT TEACHING & PRESENTATIONS EXPERIENCE
 Instructor, March 2015
ENTRO GAMS workshop, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Gave a workshop about GAMS modeling for water resources system analysis in Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office
(ENTRO).
 Invited Speaker, February 2015
Fulbright Water-Energy-Food Nexus Regional Workshop, Kathmandu, Nepal
Present research projects about water-energy-food nexus in the Indus and Brahmaputra Basins
 Keynote speaker, September 2014
International Workshop of Water Resources Environmental Education, Tainan, Taiwan
Presented a research topic about water resources management under climate change uncertainty.
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Y. C. Ethan Yang
 Presenter, September 2014
Global Land Project – Asia 2014, Taipei, Taiwan
Presented a research topic about climate change impact assessment for the Great Himalaya region.
 Presenter, June 2014
World Environmental & Water Resources Congress, Portland, OR USA
Presented a research topic about water resources management in the Great Himalaya region.
 Invited Speaker, December 2013
Water Resources Planning Institute, Taichung, Taiwan
Presented a research topic about Hydroecology and reservoir reoperation.
 Invited Speaker, December 2013
Endemic Species Research Institute, Nantou, Taiwan
Presented a research topic about Hydroecology and reservoir reoperation.
 Invited Speaker, December 2013
National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
Presented a research topic about water-energy-food nexus in the great Himalaya basins.
 Invited Speaker, August 2013
International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D. C., USA
Presented a research topic about water-energy-food nexus in the Indus River of Pakistan.
 Presenter, May 2013
World Environmental & Water Resources Congress, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Presented a research topic about the domestic water demand forecast under climate uncertainty.
 Invited Speaker, March 2013
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, College Park, MD, USA
Presented a research topic about climate change impact assessment on coupled natural-human systems.
 Co-Instructor, Spring 2013
Water Resource Systems Analysis, UMass CEE 662
A semester-long course that teaches graduate students the planning and management of water resource systems.
 Instructor, April 2011
ILGISA workshop Spring 2011, Urbana, IL, USA
Gave a workshop about ESRI ArcGIS Explorer Desktop plug-ins: uWATER and uWATER-PA.
 Instructor, March 2011
ESRI-GIS Development Center Training Program (EDC), Prairie Research Institute (PRI), Urbana, IL, USA
(http://www.prairie.illinois.edu/edc/teachers/yang.shtml)
Gave training courses about the basic use and programming in free GIS software: ESRI ArcGIS Explorer Desktop.
 Presenter, September 2010
Illinois Groundwater Association 2010 Fall Meeting, Hoffman Estates, IL, USA
Presented a research topic about the WebGIS analysis toolkit for natural resources management.
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Y. C. Ethan Yang
 Presenter, May 2010
World Environmental & Water Resources Congress, Providence, RI, USA
Presented a research topic about the agent-based modeling application in Yellow River Basin.
 Invited Speaker, March 2010
Civil Engineering seminar, NTU, Taipei, Taiwan
Presented a research topic about multi-objectives reservoir operation.
 Instructor, March 2010
EDC, PRI, Urbana, IL, USA
Gave training courses about the basic use of GIS software: ESRI ArcGIS 9.3.
WORK EXPERIENCE
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Research Assistant Professor, July 2013 – present
Civil and Environmental Engineering, UMass
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Leading, managing and working on projects sponsored by the World Bank and International
Food Policy Research Institute about Water-Energy-Food Nexus, Climate Change Impact
Assessment, and Water Resources Management in developing countries.
Research Scientist, July 2011 – June 2013
Civil and Environmental Engineering, UMass
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Worked on climate change impact assessment of watershed management for South and Central
Asia
Postdoctoral Research Associate, February 2010 – June 2011
Illinois State Water Survey, PRI, UIUC
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Worked on holistic groundwater management with agent-based modeling and ubiquitous
WebGIS analysis toolkit development
Research Assistant, August 2005 – May 2010
Hydrosystem Lab., Department of CEE, UIUC
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Worked on global & local water resources project, hydrological model (HEC-HMS, SWMM), data
mining software (Genetic Programming), statistic software (Vista 6), water resources
management model programming (MatLab, VC++, VBA, GAMS)
Research Staff/Teaching Grader, August 2004 – July 2005
Sustainable Development Lab/ Hydrotech Research Institute, NTU
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Worked on hydrological and water quality model (HSPF, QUAL2E) for streamflow regulation and
water availability assessment, climate change and water resources management research
project for ecological restoration, GIS software programming (ArcView 3.2, ArcGIS 9.1)
Graduated Student Assistant, July 2002 – June 2004
Sustainable Development Lab., Department of BSE, NTU
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Worked on research project related to hydrology and water quality model (GWLF and QUAL2E)
Part-time Employee, March 2002 – February 2003
Administration, Main Library, NTU
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Worked on document processing and general administrative job.
Student Assistant, July 2000 – October 2001
Remote Sensing and Spatial Knowledge Lab., Department of Geography, NTU
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Worked on GIS and RS data sampling, processing and analysis, GIS software programming.
Student Assistant, July 1999 – June 2000
Cartography and Multimedia Lab., Department of Geography, NTU
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Y. C. Ethan Yang
Worked on website design, digital image processing and map production.
PROGRAMMING & SOFTWARE SKILLS
Programming
Advanced: R, GAMS, Visual Basic 2008, Visual Basic 6.0, Visual Basic Application, MatLab, Arc Macro
Language in ArcInfo; Intermediate: Visual C++ 2008; Basic: Java, Objective-C
Software
Advanced: ArcView 3.X, ArcGIS 9.X, GWLF; Intermediate: EPA SWMM, HEC-HMS, SWAT 2009, QUAL2E,
STELLA 8.0, Vension 5.0, ViSta 6, D2KGP; Basic: HEC-RAS, QUAL2K, Win TR-55, HSPF
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Y. C. Ethan Yang